By Jerry Slayton 

‘Tis the season for crafting! With the holiday season quickly approaching, we all finally have the excuse we’ve been waiting for to start a few new crafts. Here at Art Spark Texas, we like to gather arts and crafts ideas from around the world to share with our friends. Here are a few Multicultural craft ideas for you to fold into your decorating this year, or perhaps start a new holiday tradition with friends and family. 

 

Guatemalan Worry Dolls

Supplies Needed: 
Pipe Cleaners Yarn Scissors 

 Additional supply ideas you may want to use:
Acrylic Paints Beads String Fabric 

Directions: 

1. To get started, let’s make the skeleton for our doll. Select one pipe cleaner. Hold it at one end and twist that end around your finger, making a loop.  
2. Twist that loop two times to form a neck, then create the arms by folding the pipe cleaner. First away from the body, then back into the body, then twist. After you twist, use the remaining pipe cleaner as the legs. 
3. Next, we’ll use our yarn or string to make the hair for the doll. Tie yarn or string around the loop with a knot and cut to the length you want. The more pieces of yarn, the more hair your doll will have! 
4. Then, choose a color of yarn or string for the head. Tie a knot in the loop and begin wrapping around the loop to form a head shape. You’ll use this same wrapping technique to make the clothes for your doll. Use different colors to separate the shirt from the pants. Wrap around both legs to make a skirt. 
5. Finally, experiment with different colors and possibly even add fabric pieces to make your doll stand out! Remember to tie a knot each time you start and end a piece of yarn or string.

Mexican Paper Flower Garland 

Supplies Included: 
Tissue Paper Yarn Pipe Cleaners Scissors 

Additional supply ideas you may want to use: 
Beads String 

Directions: 

1. Start by selecting six sheets of tissue paper. Stack the paper neatly. Cut your sheets in half. The color that you want as the center of your flower should be on top. Likewise, the color on the bottom will be the back of the flower. I usually make this layer green to look like leaves.
2.   Now you will fold your stack in a 1-inch accordion fold. This is just like making a paper fan. With your stack in portrait position, take the bottom and fold it up, about an inch. Flip your stack over, and fold it upwards another inch. Flip the stack again, fold and repeat until your stack is a 1-inch strip. * Don’t Worry, folding tissue paper is not an exact science, so don’t worry if your folds aren’t completely parallel or exactly an inch.
3. Take a pipe cleaner (the color doesn’t matter as it won’t be seen) and fold it over the middle of your strip and twist to tighten.
4. Here is where you get to be creative! Cut each end into a petal shape. Petals can be rounded, jagged, pointy, fringed, square, whatever. You can even make a lace edge, like a snowflake. Unfold the stack on both sides of the pipe cleaner, the same way you would open a fan. The two sides should open into a circular shape, as pictured.
5.   Being careful not to tear the paper, separate the top piece of tissue. Peel the layer up and towards the center. It should stand up in a nice ring. Repeat with each layer of paper.
6.  Finished! Use the pipe cleaners or yarn to attach multiple flowers together to form a garland. It is really fun to play around with different color combinations and petal shapes. Mixing large and small flowers also gives a nice effect. 

Whatever crafts you decide to create this season, we hope it brings you peace as you focus. At Art Spark, we believe that arts and crafts activities are a valuable tool to mental health, and can help establish fun traditions that we share with our loved ones for years to come.